Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination (Topic: 5G Auctions)

Why in news?

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its nod for the auction of spectrum that can be used to offer 5G services, at its meeting held on June 14.
A total 72 GHz of spectrum with a validity period of 20 years will be put on sale during the auction planned towards the end of July.

5G is the next generation cellular technology that will provide faster and more reliable communication with ultra low latency (Latency is the amount of time data takes to travel between its source and destination).
As per the set standards with 5G, the peak network speeds are expected to be in the range of 2-20 Gbps as opposed to about 25 Mbps on current 4G networks.
In India, however, 4G speeds average at around 6-7 Mbps, but are picking up gradually.
It will enable a sharp increase in the amount of data transmitted over wireless systems due to more available bandwidth and advanced antenna technology.

The world’s second largest telecom market is one of the few major countries w ithout 5G ser vice.
It is said that the 5G deployment is likely to start from August-September this year and service should commence in about 20¬25 cities by the year ¬end.
Experts and analysts expect a gradual roll¬out of 5G across the country in a phased manner over the next two to three years, with roll¬outs beginning from the second half of the current year.

5G is expected to form the backbone of emerging technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things) and machine to machine communications, thereby supporting a much larger range of applications and services.
It is expected that with 5G technology, consumers will be able to download data heavy content such as 8K movies and games with better graphics in just a few seconds.
It will enhance working efficiency in various sectors such as economy by improving the infrastructural activity like industry, agriculture, institutions, h ospitals a nd h ighways.
5G is expected to create a cumulative economic impact of $1 trillion in In dia b y 2035.

high reserve prices for the spectrum and

direct allotment of spectrum for captive non-public networks.

Concern is that 5G technology has more industry use than for individual consumers because it is very cost effective tech. for e.g. a block of 5MHz spectrum (paired) in the 700MHz band will cost ₹196bn (US$2.5bn).
On allowing direct allocation of spectrum for captive non-public networks, the government has reasoned that the move will spur a new wave of innovations in Industry 4.0 applications such as machine to machine communications, IoT, AI across automotive, healthcare, agriculture, energy, and other sectors.
The users will need to update to 5G ¬enabled devices to access the network, if they are not already using one.

When major economies and world power are advancing their technology so that they could achieve high growth and better lifestyle for their people, India that is also the fastest growing economy can’t live on denial mode. We have to work on this for achieving better results in terms of technology.